University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, January 24
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. / Taffy Abel Arena
5:07 p.m. CST
16-7-3, 13-3-2
5
at
0
Lake Superior State
9-16-1, 6-12-0
1
2
3
F
St. Thomas (MN)
4
0
1
5
Lake Superior St.
0
0
0
0
Aaron Trotter and Men’s Hockey shutout Lake State for 10th win in a row
1/24/2026 10:49:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Ryan O’Neill led the skaters with four points, Pilling and Wahlin each with two goals
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Two nights, two countries, two wins for the St. Thomas Men's Hockey team (16-7-3, 13-3-2) after a 5-0 victory over Lake Superior State (9-16-1, 6-12-0) on Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena. Aaron Trotter made 25 saves enroute to his first shutout of the season while Ryan O'Neill recorded an assist on four of the Toms' five goals.
The Tommies wasted no time on Saturday with four goals in the first period. Lucas Wahlin extended his point streak to 10 games at 5:28 on a one-time chance set up by Ryan O'Neill. Their linemate, Alex Gaffney broke the puck out of the defensive zone and started the break.
St. Thomas scored again at 6:59 on a backhanded wraparound shot from Quinton Pepper. Caige Sterzer and Bauer Berry each assisted on the play. Next up were a pair of Nathan Pilling goals at 11:02 and 17:47. Ryan O'Neill fought off a pair of defenders below the goal line and rimmed a puck to the slot where Hayes Hundley artfully kept the zone and flung a shot toward traffic that was deflected in by Pilling. The second goal came on a clean breakout from Lucas Van Vliet and O'Neill to feed the Tommie freshman on the wing. Pilling sniped a shot past the Laker netminder.
Aaron Trotter shined in the second period with saves on all 11 shots he faced. The fourth-year goaltender made at least a pair of highly above average stops to keep the Toms out in front by four. The Purple were outshot in the period 11-8.
St. Thomas' lone Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee, Lucas Wahlin, added on some insurance at 11:55 from O'Neill. The senior captain looked like he was shot out of a cannon while cutting up ice and splitting a pair of back checking defenders. After he blew by the skaters, he made quick work of Lake State's goalie for his CCHA leading 18th goal of the season.
The Toms outshot the Lakers 33-25 in another dominant performance.
Up Next
St. Thomas men's hockey returns home for its penultimate home series of the season against the second place #19 Michigan Tech Huskies (17-8-2, 12-3-2) on Friday, January 30th at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday, January 31st at 7:07 p.m.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team, follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieMHockey. Follow the fun @tommiesports on TikTok.
The Tommies wasted no time on Saturday with four goals in the first period. Lucas Wahlin extended his point streak to 10 games at 5:28 on a one-time chance set up by Ryan O'Neill. Their linemate, Alex Gaffney broke the puck out of the defensive zone and started the break.
St. Thomas scored again at 6:59 on a backhanded wraparound shot from Quinton Pepper. Caige Sterzer and Bauer Berry each assisted on the play. Next up were a pair of Nathan Pilling goals at 11:02 and 17:47. Ryan O'Neill fought off a pair of defenders below the goal line and rimmed a puck to the slot where Hayes Hundley artfully kept the zone and flung a shot toward traffic that was deflected in by Pilling. The second goal came on a clean breakout from Lucas Van Vliet and O'Neill to feed the Tommie freshman on the wing. Pilling sniped a shot past the Laker netminder.
Aaron Trotter shined in the second period with saves on all 11 shots he faced. The fourth-year goaltender made at least a pair of highly above average stops to keep the Toms out in front by four. The Purple were outshot in the period 11-8.
St. Thomas' lone Hobey Baker Memorial Award nominee, Lucas Wahlin, added on some insurance at 11:55 from O'Neill. The senior captain looked like he was shot out of a cannon while cutting up ice and splitting a pair of back checking defenders. After he blew by the skaters, he made quick work of Lake State's goalie for his CCHA leading 18th goal of the season.
The Toms outshot the Lakers 33-25 in another dominant performance.
Up Next
St. Thomas men's hockey returns home for its penultimate home series of the season against the second place #19 Michigan Tech Huskies (17-8-2, 12-3-2) on Friday, January 30th at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday, January 31st at 7:07 p.m.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the University of St. Thomas Men's Hockey team, follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieMHockey. Follow the fun @tommiesports on TikTok.
Team Stats
STT
LSS
Shots
31
24
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
7
Penalty Mins
14
22
Faceoffs Won
28
35
Game Leaders
+/-
3
Goals
0
Sh
0
A
4
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
2
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
D
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's Hockey
F
/ Men's HockeyF
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